Landscapes

Chercheur de fossils

Currently on show at the Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art is an exhibition of paintings entitled “Landscapes” by Xavier Puigmartí.

Puigmartí’s return to the Mashrabia with the theme of landscapes, depicting Lake Qarun in Fayoum, where the artist has been working in his own atelier for decades. Since his “Memories are not for Sale” exhibition, held at the gallery in February last year, the figures have emerged from the paintings to settle in the desert.

In this vast space men collect fossils, girls play with the stars, and the lake looks like a great cosmic mirror where everything can be seen. An academic style defines the background of the landscape, but its characters take us aback and invite us to think.

According to Puigmartí, “The landscapes of the desert are full of life. Men collect fossils because they think they’re very old and because they can be dead and alive at the same time. The girls play with stars that are infinitely much older, because they give them light and life. The fox confuses the meteorites with bunch of grapes and has the impudence to say they’re still green. The lake in the middle of the desert is a big cosmic mirror where everything looks clearer. If we finally are able to change, we will walk in the soft sand because the fossils, the meteorites and stars will have pulverised.”